Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann outlines some of the recommendations made by a transportation panel. She co-chaired the group, which was appointed by Gov. Mike Pence. Photo by Seth Morin, TheStatehouseFile.com

Plans for an Interstate 69 bridge linking Indiana and Kentucky received a boost of recognition from the state on Wednesday.

The project was scored among the highest for future transportation projects by the Blue Ribbon Panel on Transportation Infrastructure, whose membership includes Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke.

Gov. Mike Pence accepted the recommendations from the report, but though it lists the I-69 bridge as a key state project, no funding is provided for the project by its inclusion in the report.

Winnecke, who was in Indianapolis for the report's release, said he's working to dispel a cost estimate of $1.4 billion for the project. He said the actual cost for the bridge over the Ohio River likely will range between $700 million and $800 million.

Winnecke said he's asked Pence to provide funding for an environmental impact study for the bridge, which is a required step to determine the route.

Winnecke said he was pleasantly surprised to see how the bridge rated in the report by the Blue Ribbon Panel on Transportation Infrastructure and how other members of the commission saw its importance. The bridge is included as one of four "Tier 1" projects, which rated as the most significant to the state.

"One of the beauties of the commission is that people really took time to research and read data that were presented in the project," Winnecke said. "In our minds in Southwest Indiana, (the bridge) is a completion of I-69."

A second Southwestern Indiana project included in the report was the Southwestern Indiana Port Connections, which would improve access to the Port of Indiana at Mount Vernon. The project, estimated to cost $620 million, would construct a connector between I-69 and the port.

"The panel's work has recognized several opportunities for the state to build on, and I hope that many of these ideas will encourage a broader conversation on the future of transportation infrastructure in this state," Pence said in a statement on the report.

Winnecke said Pence indicated he would direct state agencies to begin assessing the panel's work product.

Building the I-69 bridge will be a joint venture between Kentucky and Indiana.

Kentucky officials have already done work to study a potential location for the bridge and hope is for construction to begin by 2020.

In October, Winnecke and Henderson (Kentucky) Mayor Steve Austin launched BridgeLink, an organization focused on building the bridge over the Ohio River.

The panel's report, presented by Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann who serves as its co-chair, also recommended the state index its gas tax to increase with inflation, build a new bypass around Indianapolis and consider user fees to supplement highway funding.

The group — appointed by Gov. Mike Pence — detailed a funding crisis facing the state: Revenue from the state's gas taxes are falling as cars become more fuel efficient but the cost of building roads is increasing.

Still, the funding issues didn't stop the panel from proposing new highway projects. In addition to the I-69 bridge and Mount Vernon project, it said the state needs to add lanes on Interstates 65 and 70 and improve its rail and port infrastructure.

And the group said the so-called Commerce Connector in Central Indiana is "a high priority, critical project because of its ability to facilitate the movement of freight and passenger traffic into and around Indianapolis," particularly at bottleneck locations including the intersection of I-69 and I-465 on the northeast side.

While the report did not recommend specific funding for specific projects, it noted that the state's current funding method isn't working.

Much of the state's transportation funding comes from an 18-cent per gallon tax on gasoline. But revenue from that tax has been decreasing, even though Hoosiers are traveling roughly the same number of vehicle miles. That's because as cars get more fuel efficient, drivers use less gas to go the same distance.

At the same time, the cost of building roads is increasing, the panel said. Indexing the tax means it would go up as inflation rises, which could generate more money for state highway construction.

The report also said the state should consider user fees. It said that could include a fee on alternative fuel vehicles — which generate even less revenue through the state's gas tax.

The group also proposed that the state:

- Increase the length of semitrailers permitted on highways from 53 feet to 57 feet to increase payload per truck.

- Mandate trailers have three axles instead of two to reduce the weight per axle by approximately 50 percent and reduce road damage.

- Designate high-occupancy lanes to encourage more passengers per vehicle.